practical research
CONTENTS
From Seed to Bloom
The Life Cycle of a Daffodil
Material Collage
Flower Geographies
Locations + Visits
The Getty Center
Flowers @ Saatchi Gallery
From Seed to Bloom
february-planting
As a practical exploration into growth and nurture, I planted seeds to COSMOS flowers in an egg box - a good way to recycle the carton and a cheap way to house the seeds! I added some compost to the box, followed by the seeds (which I got from the Nunhead Gardener), and more compost on top.
COSMOS are best planted between February and April, then typically coming to bloom around June.
Through the next few months, I will be documenting their growth, as roots start to form, then stems, eventually flowering around May/June, when my project will come to a close.
THE LIFE CYCLE OF A DAFFODIL
tracked daily, from bud, to bloom, to death
ONE
ONE
TWO
TWO
THREE
THREE
FOUR
FOUR
FIVE
FIVE
SIX
SIX
SEVEN
SEVEN
Using photographs of flowers from my personal camera roll, quotes from my inspirations, and illustrations of flowers found on Pinterest. I was heavily inspired by Sheila Ghelani’s workshop teaching us to consider the ties between word and image, and investigating/researching/asking questions of objects.
Through the exploration of materials, and creating work out of paper, I played with aesthetic dimensions as inspired by Linder’s photomontages.
collage
MY MATERIALS / HOW CAN PAPER BE MANIPULATED BY SHAPE?
FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHS / WHERE CAN REAL IMAGES BE SOURCED?
TESTING LAYOUTS / HOW DOES POSITIONING AFFECT MEANING?
MERGING WORD + IMAGE / WHAT WORDS STAND OUT TO ME?
TIME MEASURED THROUGH FLOWERS / HOW CAN LAYERS ADD VALUE?
Preservation
How can we pause time?
Can we manipulate the temporality of flowers?
THE NUNHEAD GARDENER
visited the Nunhead Gardener to explore their range of plants + seeds! bought some poppy seeds to plant 💐
getty center
visited the Getty Center, and Robert Irwin’s Central Garden - an intricately designed oasis situated in the hills of Los Angeles, overlooking the city.
flower geographies
locations + visits
Columbia Road Flower Market
new york flower district
@ the getty center
An installation that blends art + nature, the Getty Center’s Central Garden works with shape and considered design, with the focal water-borne flowerbeds (currently in bloom, notably) being laid out in a cyclical maze shape, inaccessible to the public, viewable from semi-circular pathways and viewpoints through the garden.
The space is currently filled with colour - california poppies in orange, pretty pink tulips, dainty violets. The variety of colour and type of flower almost overwhelming, but so well curated.
Given its hilltop perspective, visitors can gaze over the expanse of Los Angeles - the city stretching as far as the eye can see. This burst of nature within the urban so beautiful, the contrast so considered.
What does it mean to be in bloom? How can cities and their manufactured oasis’ converse?
on film
Through my visit to the Central Garden, I recorded clips of the flowers in the breeze, subjected to natural affectation.
FLOWERS @ Saatchi Gallery
a curated selection of image, clothing, painting, digital, and immersive exhibits
my thoughts
extensive, well-selected array
slightly unspecific - very cool that it spans SO much but also feels… a little pointless because of that
my highlights
wire flower making workshop
Rebecca Louise Law’s La Fleur Morte - installation of flowers falling from ceiling, supported by copper wire - exploring in-between life + death, really spoke to my project - especially the idea that ‘I look at a preserved flower and I see time’
Grace Gillespie’s Tapestry - nine sheets of paper, coming together to form an illustraton
Christo’s Wrapped Roses - plastic roses held within a glass case
Susan Beech’s Standing Tall - paper flowers within frame
Amy Shelton’s Hortus siccus - LED light box, displaying pressed flowers (with medicinal purposes)
Out + About
NYC
DIY plantable paper - like the seed paper given out @ The Broad in LA, as part of the Social Forest Project
what do I WANT to do? where is the DESIRE?
I want to learn a new skill
I want to plant, to manufacture growth + opportunity
it’s all about:
new beginnings, being in the middle of something, being in progress
in the works…
seeds growing
flowers being pressed
interviews + photomontages
but it’s also all about:
temporality, the fleeting nature of flowers + of our time, fragility, preservation + how we can elongate
Plans:
talk to vendors at flower markets
create research videos of people talking about their fav flowers, or ones with meanings + memories attached
take their photos in B+W
create photomontages of them, their flowers, quotes from their interview
interviews
memories of flowers
sentiments
why? even though they are so temporary?
flowers in the city
sources of stems
from workshops
persona making - of interviewer
site-specific, in conducting research
opposite of La Destruccion - creation, beginnings
interacting with flowers
make paper flowers
go to a bouquet workshop !
growing my own
wildflower picking